Henry a



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. LEAhIAN. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANOFORTE-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent N o. 19,857, dated April 6, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. LEAMAN,

' of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented a new and Improved Pianoforte-Action; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specication, in whichd Figure l, is a side view of the action.Fig. 2, is a plan of a portion of the damper lever.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

This invention consists mainly in a certain arrangement of the severalparts of the action for upright pianofortes, by which I am enabled totake out with any one of the keys, all the moving parts of the actionwhich belong to that key, without disturbing any other part of theaction.

To enable others to make and use my invention I will proceed to describeits construction and operation.

A, is the key having secured on the top of its rear end, the block a, inwhich is received the pivot of the butt B, B of the hammer, which pivotconnects the hammer with the key. The hammer butt B, B', is extendeddownward in a nearly straight form behind the rear extremity of the key,as indicated by B', for the purpose of enabling the regulating screw C,and damper g, to be applied as will be presently described. The notchal, is in the back side of the butt, nearly opposite the pivot b; andover the bottom face of the said notch, which occupies a nearlyhorizontal position, there is situated a stationary rail f, whichextends the whole length of the key board, and which serves, bypreventing the upward movement of the back part of the butt when thepivot ZJ, is raised by the depression of the front end of the key, tocause the hammer to be thrown back against the string by the saiddepression.

The regulating screw C, which serves to adjust the hammer to prevent itblocking against the string, screws into the lower part of the rear endof the key, which is recessed to make room for it, and the head of thesaid screw is covered by a piece of thick cloth or felt c, which isattached to the end of the key, so as to be interposed between theregulating screw and hammer butt. The screw operates to allow the hammerto strike with greater force, when screwed farther into the key, andvice-versa, as the farther it is screwed in, the farther it allows thelower part of the hammerbutt below the pivot b, to move forward vhen thehammer is operated upon by the iey.

g, is the damper whose stein g', screws into the back of the hammer-buttbelow the bar f, and pivot This arrangement of the damper causes it tobear against the string when the hammer falls far enough forward awayfrom the string, the weight of the hammer serving to hold the damperagainst the string, and the damper serving to support the hammer whennot in operation, and thus dispensing with the rail generally employedfor the hammer to rest upon. The screw on the stem of the damper enablesthe damper to be used as a means of regulating the depth or height ofthe key, and the length of stroke of the hammer. A spring it, connectingthe upper part of the hammer-butt with a pin c', in the block a, servesto pull the hammer from the spring as soon as the rear end of the key isallowed to fall by the release of its front end from the pressure of thelinger. The pressure of the damper can be regulated by screwing its stemfarther into or out from the hammer-butt.

In order to provide in a simple manner for throwing off the dampers Iemploy a lever C, which is movable horizontally on a pivot j, at oneend, as shown in the plan Fig. 2, and has its other end connected withthe pedal, so that when drawn forward by the pressure of the foot on thepedal, it will prevent the lower part of the hammerbutt from moving backfar enough to per mit the damper to touch the string.

The operation of the action is illustrated by showing it in Fig. l, intwo conditions, viz, at rest and in the act of striking, the formercondition being represented in black and the latter in red outline. Itwill be seen that in both these conditions the working face of the notchel, is in contact with the edge of the rail; and in the whole operationit never leaves it. The depression' of the front end of the key, at thetime that it commences to throw back the hammer by the action of theface of the notch against the rail f, as already described, draws thedamper away from the string. As soon as the key is set free the springL, draws the hammer away from the string and moves the damper toward it,and at the same time exerts a tendency to depress the rear end of thekey through the weight of the hammer and damper, both of which areattached to the key, will be generally sufficient for this purpose.

This action constitutes a perfect repetition action, as from theoperation of the face 'of the notch d, and the rail f, the hammer isalways in condition to strike, provided there is any room under the keyto depress it. It is extremely simple and cheap of construction and notliable to get out of order, but above all it permits of any key beingremoved with the hammer damper and regulating screw belongin to it forrepair or adjustment; all that 1s necessary to effect this being to liftthe key off its fulcrum pin k, and draw it forward with all the partsattached, to which operation there is no obstacle as the bearin isremoved from its usual position in ront of the hammer, Where it wouldprevent such action, to a position below the key.

Y What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The attachment of the hammer of an upright piano-forte action to therear extremity of the key and the arrangement of the notch d, in theback side of the butt B,

of such hammer so that the working face of the notch will operatesubstantially Vas described in contact with the edge of a stationary barf, and by such operation cause the hammer to move back to strike thestring when the front end of the key is depressed.

2. In combination with the attachment of the hammer to the rearextremity of the key, I claim the attachment of the damper to the hammerbutt below the pivot b, which attaches the hammer to the key,substantially as herein specified whereby it is made to serve as a stopto the hammer or means of regulating the lengt-h of stroke of the hammerand depth or level of the key as herein described.

3. I claim the application of the regulating screw c, in the rear end ofthe key to operate in combination with a portion B, of the hammer buttextended below the pivot which attaches the butt to the key,substantially as herein described.

4. I claim the arrangement of the damper lever C, behind the downwardlyextended portion B, of the hammer-butt substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

HENRY A. LEAMAN.

Witnesses:

W. TUsoH, W. HAUFF.

